Friday, March 21, 2014

Wishful Thinking at the Atlantic

Plan could finally free New York-city traffic congestion.   Dream on Atlantic.  The plan amounts to hiking bridge tolls, and putting tolls on the four free bridges.  Jack the toll up to the point where people stop driving into Manhattan.  
   First of all, when you are running a city, you WANT people to come into town.  They shop, attend shows, eat at restaurants, spend money.  They are customers.  You want customers.  Without customers you have Detroit.
   People will drive, 'cause driving is convenient, and much faster than  bus or subway.  No matter how many roads you build, traffic  increases to fill road available.  And, when traffic gets bad enough, people will take the bus or the subway.  For instance, I seldom take my car into Boston.  I take the T.  It's faster, and cheaper than parking in town.  I don't go into Manhattan very often, mostly 'cause the traffic is horrible, and the subway is complex for out-of-towners to master.  

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